Long reads

Göring and Lohse studying a book on Rembrandt.Credit. Photo: Archives des Musées Nationaux History

Bruno Lohse—Art Dealer of the Third Reich

In 2007, the Zurich prosecutor’s office opened vault number 5 of the Zürcher Kantonalbank. But something felt off; the vault was huge, more like a...

Javier Abel Miguel 28 April 2025

Controversial Artists: Artist Stories

Controversial or Criminal? Problematic Artists and Cancel Culture

Great art pushes boundaries and challenge norms. But how should we react to works by artists with a history of truly horrifying behaviour?

Candy Bedworth 25 April 2025

Artist Stories

Claude Monet in 10 Paintings

We prefer to be sincere; the title is simply intended to catch your attention. Claude Monet painted throughout his life, from adolescence to his...

Tommy Thiange 17 April 2025

Animals

Secrets of Pets in Art

There’s nothing better than going to a museum and spotting a cute pet hidden in a painting. I mean, after all, one of art’s functions is...

Marta Wiktoria Bryll 11 April 2025

A Lady Writing, by Johannes Vermeer Design

Cultural Differences in Calligraphy: 5 Examples from Ancient Times to the Age of AI

Does calligraphy have a place in the age of AI? Do we still need handwritten words when we can just as easily print them from a computer? What about...

Ledys Chemin 7 April 2025

Jan van Eyck, The Arnolfini Portrait (detail), 1434, The National Gallery, London, England. Masterpiece Stories

Masterpiece Story: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck

The Arnolfini Portrait is as enigmatic as it is iconic. Painted by Jan van Eyck in 1434, it spawns a lot of speculation – over half a millennium...

Vithória Konzen Dill 6 April 2025

Fashion

Crowning Glory—The World’s 12 Most Beautiful Tiaras

We all have family treasures, those mementos that matter to us so much because of their sentimental value and memories associated with them. Now,...

Joanna Kaszubowska 3 April 2025

Pop-up books: Carol Barton, Five Luminous Towers: A Book to be Read in the Dark, 2001, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, USA. Photo by Lee Stalsworth. History

The Surprising History of Pop-Up Books

If I say pop-up book, you might think of a kid’s story time. But think again, dear friends. Originally, pop-up books were made for adults:...

Candy Bedworth 3 April 2025

Art Worlds: Passages Marijana Stanić Interview

The Artist and Her World: Marijana Stanić

Marijana Stanić is a conceptual and multimedia artist and curator who just had her mini-retrospective exhibition. I talked with her about the...

Petra Dragasevic 31 March 2025

History

Siren Song: History of Mermaids in Art

Benevolent or deadly? There are so many depictions of this mythical creature. Let's explore how mermaids have been portrayed in art.

Candy Bedworth 28 March 2025

Review

The Marina Abramović Method: Instructions to Reboot Your Life

Marina Abramović is a pioneer of performance art. She is known across the globe for conceptual art practices that push human endurance and...

Candy Bedworth 27 March 2025

Women Artists

Anne Vallayer-Coster: A Life of Still Life

The still-life genre often seems less interesting than other art forms, so perhaps it is unsurprising that 18th-century French painter Anne...

Catriona Miller 26 March 2025